Ivan Fedotov’s former team, CSKA Moscow, denies goalie has signed three-year extension to stay in the KHL

On Wednesday morning, the president of the CSKA Moscow hockey team, Igor Esmantovich, denied earlier reports that the Kontinental Hockey League squad had been in contract extension discussions with goalie Ivan Fedotov, who was detained by the Russian government on a military evasion charge earlier this summer.

Fedotov, 25, signed an entry-level NHL contract with the Flyers on May 7, two months before Russian law enforcement arrested him on July 1 for suspicion of military evasion. In Russia, all males 18-27 (with rare exceptions) are required to serve one year in the military in some capacity if they are conscripted.

» READ MORE: Flyers prospect Ivan Fedotov on trial for military evasion

After taking Fedotov to a military enlistment office, the Russian government sent him to a remote military base in northern Russia to begin his training, according to his agent J.P. Barry. Russian media outlet Gazeta reported that Fedotov took the military oath in mid-August.

Russian officials, including the current president of the Russian Hockey Federation, Vladislav Tretiak, deny the case is personal or connected to Fedotov’s desire to go to North America to continue his hockey career.

Fedotov, a seventh-round pick by the Flyers in 2015, played last season for CSKA Moscow and led the team to the KHL championship, the Gagarin Cup. He also won a silver medal as the starting goalie for the Russian Olympic Committee at the 2021 Beijing Olympics. Considered one of the best goalies outside the NHL, Fedotov finished the season with a 14-10-2 record, a .919 save percentage, and a 2.00 goals-against average. In CSKA’s run to the title, Fedotov posted a 16-6 playoff record with a 1.85 GAA and a .937 save percentage.

The 6-foot-7 goaltender’s contract with CSKA expired in April, and, before his arrest, Fedotov was set to make the move to North America and compete for the Flyers’ backup job behind Carter Hart this season. On Wednesday, the Russian newspaper Sport-Express reported that Fedotov had signed a three-year contract with CSKA to stay in the KHL. The league and the team have since denied that report.

“The rights in the KHL to goalkeeper Ivan Fedotov belong to CSKA. At the moment, the league has not received documents to register a contract with a hockey player or requests for the possibility of concluding a contract with Fedotov,” the league said in a statement, according to Russian state-affiliated media outlet TASS.

Esmantovich echoed that message and added a reprimand to the reporter as well.

“The head of the club did not meet with Ivan Fedotov, as he serves in the armed forces of the Russian Federation,” Esmantovich said in a release on the team’s website. “Accordingly, there was no discussion, no contract exists. I would like to appeal to journalists who shamelessly and illiterately try to promote themselves on this, and ask them to stop such speculations.”

CSKA, which stands for Central Sports Club of the Army, which has longtime connections to the Russian army. The team is owned by Russian oil company Rosneft, whose CEO, Igor Sechin, is a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Fedotov’s preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 20. Gazeta reported that Fedotov’s lawyer, Alexei Ponomarev, has challenged his draft commission as illegal.

Former Flyers forward Mikhail Vorobyev, who played last season for the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg, recently was on trial on bribery charges related to his trying to evade Russian military service. On Tuesday, he reportedly was fined 2 million rubles (about $33,000) after confessing to the charges in court. By Russian law, the 25-year-old Vorobyev could have faced up to 12 years in prison.

Note: We will provide further updates when we have them.